In today's presidential poll Slovaks must choose between a boxer turned politician and an unkown quantity, writes Derek Scally in Bratislava
Slovak voters face a choice between the devil they know and the devil they don't in today's presidential election, a poll overshadowed by unpopular austerity measures driven by EU accession in two weeks' time.
The devil Slovaks know is the former prime minister Mr Vladimir Meciar, the bull-necked boxer turned politician whose controversial rule in the 1990s alienated Slovakia from the EU and NATO.
Mr Meciar is up against a former ally turned archrival Mr Ivan Gasparovic, a man who is so much of an unknown quantity that Slovaks wonder whether he really is the devil they don't know or, perhaps, the lesser of two evils.
Today's election will be closely watched across Europe following the shock first round result when Mr Meciar, ousted from office in 1998, topped the poll and eliminated from the race the favourite, foreign minister Mr Eduard Kukan.
Many observers in Slovakia fear that Mr Meciar is an unpredictable figure who, if elected, will interfere in domestic politics to topple the current government and install his own party in power.
EU diplomats are concerned that relations may deteriorate under Mr Meciar and speak openly of possibly having to impose Austria-style sanctions on Slovakia.
In Mr Meciar's campaign headquarters on the outskirts of Bratislava, his election team dismiss any concerns and accusations.
"Every state needs a man who is strong, a statesman, a strongman.
"Even more important is a statesman for a state in a state like we are in right now," says Mr Viliam Sobona, Mr Meciar's campaign manager.
The Slovak government is highly unpopular for increasing taxes on everything from utilities to clothes this year while making dramatic cuts to healthcare, social welfare and education spending to reduce the deficit and prepare for the euro at the end of the decade.
Mr Meciar sold himself as an opponent of the reforms and the champion of the little man and the 16 per cent of Slovaks without work.
There is little doubt that if he is elected today, he will complicate the government's reform plans.
"If the president has a vision and pushes it thorough, the government should follow him," said Mr Sobona in the Meciar campaign headquarters, suggesting an unhappy co-habitation lies ahead.
"If the government has a different plan, people can decide at the next election."
He dismisses the many skeletons in Mr Meciar's closet: selling off state assets on the cheap to friends, allegations of using the secret police to terrorise political enemies and his rocky relations in the past with NATO and the European Union.
"Mr Meciar never had a problem with the EU," says Mr Sobona, laughing off the suggestion that perhaps it was the EU that had a problem with him.
The European Commission said in its 1998 progress report that Slovakia under Mr Meciar had "serious shortcomings in the functioning of its democracy". Mr Meciar cancelled a referendum on NATO membership and delayed the beginning of EU negotiations with Brussels.
Diplomats in Bratislava describe Mr Meciar as "more Berlusconi than Santer" while Slovak journalists remember how, at EU summits in the late 1990s, one European leader after another refused to meet Mr Meciar.
"Mr Meciar has mellowed but the question is will he stay mellow in office or return to the old Meciar once he has the feeling of having a grip on power again?" says Mr Peter Stano, head of international news at Slovak Television (STV).
He says that the limited presidential powers mean Mr Meciar is more likely to be more a nuisance than a threat to the government.
The president can delay but cannot stop Bills becoming law while presidential pardons have to be cleared with the government, something that is likely to prevent the feared mass exonerations for Mr Meciar's cronies under investigation for privatisation scandals.
Mr Ivan Gasparovic, the other contender in today's vote, is a long-time ally of Mr Meciar who split to form his own party.
But their common past lead one Slovak newspaper this week to depict them on its front page as a shadowy, two-headed monster. Few see Mr Gasparovic as a real alternative, but rather the lesser of two evils and someone who doesn't have Mr Meciar's reputation abroad.
"Gasparovic is not a real alternative but he is more flexible and prepared to make deals," said Mr Grigorij Meseznikov, director of the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava.
He says Mr Meciar's claims that he has changed are nonsense and that he remains a danger to democracy in Slovakia.
"He is very unpredictable, and to have someone like that in the highest position in a country is not a good idea. Can you imagine Le Pen as president in France?" Even without EU sanctions, he says that a Meciar victory will see internal sanctions, with many leading figures in Slovakia actively avoiding contact with the president.
"I cannot imagine personal contact with that man," says Mr Meseznikov.
"I will do everything possible to avoid it. It's a matter of personal hygiene."
